Photo & © Nikola Stankovic
Aftonbladet Söndag 2022-11-06
By: KARIN HEROU
Photo: NIKOLA STANKOVIC
They were born a day apart, got to know each other at school and have been close friends ever since. Now Helen Sjöholm and Anna Stadling take tone.
– Our friendship is pure therapy.
Name: Helen Sjöholm.
Age: 52 years.
Make: Artist.
Family: Husband, three children.
Current: With the Christmas tour Snö & marschaller (Snow and marshals).
Celebrating Christmas: “At home with loved ones”.
Wish for Christmas: “A really good day.”
Name: Anna Stadling.
Age: 52 years.
Make: Artist.
Family: Husband and children.
Current: With the Christmas tour Snö & marschaller.
Celebrating Christmas: “It will be a peaceful Christmas at home.”
Wish for Christmas: “Peace, love and understanding.”
(…)
The light flows into the attic and calm piano tones sound through the hall. A cello is ready, as are the bass, drums and microphones.
Helen Sjöholm and Anna Stadling will soon be rehearsing for the Christmas concert – and they cast almost longing glances at the instruments.
– We usually take half an hour of laughing and crying before we get started, Helen says and turns on the tea water.
– We let everything slip out. We bring the feelings with us into the music. It’s pure therapy to be able to play together, says Anna and accepts a cup of black tea, without milk, from Helen.
Their story is a loop of life that is constantly twisting and turning. They were born a day apart at the hospital in Sundsvall and since then their paths have constantly crossed. They started at the same school and Helen remembers the girl who was sure of her tone in the parallel class.
– Anna had a fearless approach to the singing technique that I was looking for. She came from a family of musicians and I became envious of her voice early on. It spurred me on and developed me, as jealousy does at that age, says Helen.
Childhood in Sundsvall welded them together. They were often at each other’s houses and met in music. In their free time, they sang in the same choir.
– The older I get, the more I realize how valuable childhood friends are. I remember the smell at Anna’s house, remember her grandmother and her family. She has shaped me as a person, says Helen.
Anna nods.
– We grew up together and I remember how we always struggled with clothes! Every concert with the choir began with the question: What should we wear? Remember the long crochet skirt I had? And pumps? What an 80s look! Anna laughs.
– And I looked like a little aunt, with a pleated skirt that grandma bought.
In 1990, Anna moved to Stockholm and started at the Academy of Music. Helen moved after, but chose a different musical path. Anna focused on rock and pop and was inspired by Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow. Helen took a softer path with musicals and songs in focus.
– I experienced Anna as so safe, I didn’t even know if I wanted to do music myself. I had dreams, but Anna was concrete. We went in different directions, but stuck together.
They went to each other’s concerts and were sometimes seen at home in Sundsvall in the summers.
– Life went on. It has been busy with work and home and children. At times I have been unable to do anything but work, Helen says.
(…)
– There has never been competition between us because we have not played in the same arenas. Instead, we have been able to talk openly about the uncertainty, prestige and loneliness that can exist in our profession. For me it has been decisive, says Helen.
– Our relationship has always been very honest and we have never had to pretend in front of each other. Maybe precisely because we are childhood friends and know each other so well, Anna says.
They have 40 years of friendship behind them but it took time before they were on the same stage.
– Sometimes we did Christmas concerts together in Sundsvall, but no more than that, Helen says.
(…)
Instead, they were seen at “wine and therapy nights” and followed each other through the highs and lows of life.
– There have been difficult periods in life, but it´s always a pleasure to meet, Anna says.
Four years ago, they both felt it was time – and together they completed an acclaimed tour. Now they follow up with the Christmas concert Snö och marshaller.
– It’s a favor to work together, we get to both laugh and sing every day.
In the main hall, the instruments have come to life. Jesper Nordenström sits ready behind the piano, Nisse Törnqvist is ready at the drums. Johan Lindström and Dan Berglund hold guitar and bass and Linnea Olsson stands behind a cello.
– If nothing else, people should come and see us for the sake of the band, Helen says when she takes her place behind the microphone. Anna stands beside her, both literally and figuratively.
How do you envision the future?
– I think we´ll become aunts together and play and sing around all the country’s homesteads, Anna says.
– Yes, we’re going to be really old together, Helen says.
The friends about each other
ANNA STADLING about her friend HELEN SJÖHOLM:
“Helen is an incredibly warm and caring person with great depth and seriousness. But she is also full of humor and we laugh a lot together”.
ANNA STADLING about the artist HELEN SJÖHOLM:
“She has a primal power in her voice and a breadth, a precision in her narration. My dad was always very impressed with how Helen always tells every word when she sings. I can only agree”.
HELEN SJÖHOLM about her friend ANNA STADLING:
“She is present and dares to stay in what is serious. She fiddles with the difficult part until it has come loose. Her sense of humor is fantastic and we laugh a lot together”.
HELEN SJÖHOLM about the artist ANNA STADLING:
“I can become completely lyrical about her voice, her breadth, expression and the music she writes”.
(The entire interview is not reproduced for copyright reasons)